Van der Sar spots weak point to claim first trophy

Sunday 5 August 2007 19.17 EDT
First published on Sunday 5 August 2007 19.17 EDT

Given enough talent, a man can distil potent memories out of even a Community Shield match. Holland have had angst-ridden days when it comes to taking penalties but Edwin van der Sar has no inhibitions about facing them.

The Manchester United goalkeeper threw himself lithely to his right, denying Claudio Pizarro and then Frank Lampard in the shoot-out. It was understandable that Chelsea's third effort would be downcast, as Shaun Wright-Phillips allowed Van der Sar an elementary save. Wayne Rooney then ended the contest by converting his penalty as methodically as Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick had done.

Van der Sar, who turns 37 in October, was troubled by his lapses towards the close of last season and very conscious that little time might be left to him in an Old Trafford contract that ends next summer.

His pre-season had not been convincing but United can barely afford to let him retreat into the shadows. Tomasz Kuszczak is not regarded as his natural heir and Ben Foster's cruciate ligament injury will rule him out until the end of this year at the earliest. Even then he will have to build on the impression made at Watford.

For Sir Alex Ferguson the principal benefit of the afternoon at Wembley could be the fillip it gives Van der Sar. It would be rash to come up with larger deductions. The fact that each club can make six substitutions is the Community Shield's confession to being a jumped-up friendly, although neither manager was shameless enough to make full use of that facility.

While United, busier in attack, deserved to be victors, they will be conscious, too, that Chelsea's line-up was a distorted reflection of the prowess that Jose Mourinho can call on when there are fewer problems. Didier Drogba has hurt his knee and, though a scan should confirm that he will be back in 10 days, Mourinho was not confident enough of Andriy Shevchenko's fitness to use the Ukrainian here. If it was peculiar to witness Joe Cole give his own interpretation of centre-forward play, it is likely that Mourinho wanted to protect Pizarro, who eventually took part for 38 minutes, since he has no other fit strikers remaining.

The Peruvian was released from the dug-out to take over from Florent Malouda, who would have been feeling the effects of the knock he had taken while scoring a determined equaliser at the end of the first half. That moment of purpose and craft identified the Frenchman as the epitome of the sort of footballer who can capture Jose Mourinho's heart. Malouda has even played full-back trenchantly on occasion.

In the 45th minute the excellent Ashley Cole swerved a pass down the left and the £13.5m acquisition from Lyon had more resolve than Ferdinand, forcing himself free of the centre-back to clip an impressive finish past Van der Sar. The goal rounded off a first half in which the sides had striven to play in earnest.

There was even a sprinkling of spite to add flavour. A pointing Wayne Rooney, having been booked for a late challenge on Petr Cech, seemed to be in dispute with a section of Chelsea fans who had been demanding a red card. Even when there was no animus, United, with superior means at Wembley, were livelier in attack and Cech needed to block Ryan Giggs's effort following a Cristiano Ronaldo run in the 21st minute.

While Michael Essien and Mikel John Obi both failed to head home a Malouda free-kick shortly afterwards there was more of a flourish to United's display. The opening goal had thinking and technique that were both sharp. With 35 minutes gone, Patrice Evra took a crossfield ball on his chest, touched it to Ronaldo and raced after the return pass.

His low cross was probing and a lunge by Carvalho could not distract Ryan Giggs from recording his first goal at Wembley since his schoolboy days with a sweeping drive high into the net. By and large Chelsea showed that they retained the knack of stifling United all the same and Tal Ben Haim in defence seemed to be as reasonable a deputy for John Terry as Mourinho could have landed on a free transfer this summer.

So far as the flamboyant football now required of him is concerned, the manager can expect patience from his employers until genuine attackers are present. The main lesson of the afternoon may be that Chelsea, so well rehearsed in most areas, are not at all adept at shoot-outs, having previously been vanquished on penalties by Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final.